Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Dune’ Unveils a Ton of New Images

The first-look images from Denis Villeneuve’s upcoming Duneadaptation are finally here. In a new Vanity Fairspread, we get a sneak peek into the hostile world of Arrakis, the bone-dry planet featured in Frank Herbert’s 1965 sci-fi novel of the same name. Outfitted in thick armor known as “stillsuits,” the star-studded cast of Dune braved nearly 120-degree temperatures on location outside Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. Timothée Chalamet stars as Paul Atreides, a young royal who fights to protect his home from the region’s ferocious sandworms. Take a look:

Warner Bros.

Here, Paul gazes off into the distance with his mother Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson). Both she and Paul's father Duke Leto (Oscar Isaac) decide to move the family from their hospitable and lush home to Arrakis so they could oversee the extraction of “spice,” a mind-altering and valuable commodity on the planet. Other members of the cast include Jason Momoa as Duncan Idaho, Zendaya as Chani, and Sharon Duncan-Brewster as Dr. Liet Kynes, an originally male role written to be female.

Warner Bros.

The novel combines sci-fi elements with hardcore family rivalry, reflecting in later epic series such as Star Wars and Game of Thrones. In the past, multiple filmmakers have attempted to bring Dune to the big screen. Director Alejandro Jodorowsky attempted to adapt it in the 1970s, but was shut down. And let’s not forget David Lynch’s Dune in 1984, starring Kyle MacLachlan in his film debut. Still, no one’s ever gotten it quite right.

Villeneuve, known for sci-fi fare such as Arrival and Blade Runner 2049, seems to have a good handle on it. For one, he only agreed to tackle the project if he could stretch the material over multiple movies. Speaking to Vanity Fair, Villeneuve said, “It’s a book that tackles politics, religion, ecology, spirituality—and with a lot of characters. I think that’s why it’s so difficult. Honestly, it’s by far the most difficult thing I’ve done in my life."